India to give up Chumar post for Chinese withdrawal?

Indian forces appear to have agreed to the removal of bunkers built by the army in Chumar close to the line of actual control (LAC) to facilitate an agreement

NEW DELHI: Although the government maintained on Monday that no concessions were offered to the Chinese to end the face off in east Ladakh, India forces appear to have agreed to the removal of bunkers built by the army in Chumar close to the line of actual control (LAC) to facilitate an agreement.

Sources in the security establishment familiar with the negotiations and the local topography told TOI that the 21-day confrontation on Ladakh's desolate Depsang plains ended only after the Indian Army agreed to demolish bunkers it had built in the region of Chumar near the LAC.

The bunkers in question are close to what India considers its current border and are part of the proactive measures objected to by the Chinese. It's said that only after New Delhi agreed to concede the Chinese demand to pull down these "permanent" structures, that allow Indian troops to keep an eye on the Karakoram highway, did the PLA agree to pull back and restore pre-April 15 status.

It has been claimed that India has also adopted "intrusive" tactics to counter aggressive Chinese patrolling and temporarily rolling back some measures is not a large sacrifice. It was also claimed that these bunkers were made only as "retaliation" to the Chinese intrusion. The vacation of the strategically located bunkers or "observation posts" -- that keep an eye on troop movements on the Chinese side - could end India's drill of daily border patrols to the "disputed" area, highly-placed sources said.

Indian troops were patrolling the motorable stretch from the regular Chumar post to the bunkers and manning them through the day. The Chinese troops, which surprised India by setting up a tented post some 19 kms into what India perceives as its side of the LAC, first flagged concerns over the bunkers in Chumar at the second flag meeting on April 21. Since then, this strategic observation post had emerged as a bone of contention.

China, already miffed with India's re-activation of advanced landing grounds at Daulat Beg Oldie, Fukche and Nyoma and construction of other infrastructure along the LAC over the last four-five years, was uncomfortable with Indians being able to peep at the movement on the highway. The Chinese, in fact, had frequently tried to "immobilize'' the surveillance cameras positioned at the Chumar post by cutting wires.

According to sources in the security establishment, at the April 21 flag meeting, the Chinese demanded the observation post at Chumar - which India insisted was only a resting place for patrolling troops as icy winds are a regular phenomenon - be immediately dismantled.

Even at the time, the Army did not completely rule this out as a measure that could lead to the Chinese troops withdrawing from Raki Nala. But the Chinese refusal to make a firm commitment about pulling their tents in return for demolition of the bunkers was not acceptable to the Indian side.

At the third flag meeting too, the same issue was raised, and the Chinese continued to be evasive. They said only after Indian troops had dismantled the border fortifications in Chumar and pulled back their own troops from the faceoff point at Raki Nala, would it "mull the next step".

As the standoff entered its twentieth day on Saturday, the Chinese reiterated the demand for demolition of the Indian Army bunkers at a meeting between the local commanders. It was only after this was approved by the highest level on Sunday morning, with the Chinese agreeing to a reciprocal pull back, the Army sealed the "deal" - something which South Block mandarins stoutly denied.